Inside Succession star Matthew Macfadyen’s fairytale love story with wife Keeley Hawes

Follow-up viewers have been mortified by the brutal collapse of Matthew Macfadyen’s marriage to Sarah Snook.

The English actor, 48, has become a character viewers love to hate in his role of Tom Wambsgans, Shiv Roy’s fierce counterpart.

Even their marriage in the season one finale – what should have been the happiest day of their lives – was marred by scandal, with Shiv attempting to cover up an illicit affair and Tom receiving oral sex from a prostitute during his bachelorette party.

After deciding to go along with Shiv’s idea of ​​an open marriage in season two, things seemed to be going almost smoothly until Tom’s ultimate betrayal in the season three finale when he sided with Logan Roy in the Waystar/GoJo deal.

With their marriage officially on the rocks during season four, the couple opt for divorce, but even then things are thrown into a spanner in the works when Shiv finds out she is pregnant, with fans unable to determine if they will resume their relationship. can build. during the highly anticipated final episode.

A match made in hell: The English actor, 48, has become a character viewers love to hate in his role of Tom Wambsgans, Shiv Roy’s fierce counterpart

The Tom/Shiv dynamic is one of the show’s most fraught, bitter and disturbing, no mean feat for a program full of underhandedness, twists and drama.

But away from the screen, English actor Tom, 48, is happily in love with his former Spooks co-star Keeley Hawes, 47, with the pair having been married for 19 years.

The couple first met in 2002 when they starred together in the BBC spy drama Spooks (known as MI-5 in the United States).

She was newly married to DJ Spencer McCallum at the time, with whom she shares 23-year-old son Myles.

The couple’s work friendship later evolved into romance, and she divorced Callum in 2004, before marrying Matthew later that year. They later welcomed two children: daughter Maggie, 18, and son Ralph, 16.

Speaking of the fairytale moment when they first said the L word, Keeley recalled, “Matthew just came right out with it and said ‘I love you’ in the rain one day.” I thought, “Oh dear, here we go.”‘

The pair continued to work together, starring together in the 2007 comedy Death at a Funeral before working on Stonehouse earlier this year, which dramatized the life and times of disgraced British minister John Stonehouse.

The series followed love cheat Labor MP John Stonehouse, who faked his own death before running off with his mistress and later being exposed as a spy.

Humble beginnings: The couple first met in 2002 when they starred together in the BBC spy drama Spooks (known as MI-5 in the United States)

Cozy co-stars: The pair have continued to work together, starring together in the 2007 comedy Death at a Funeral before working on Stonehouse earlier this year (pictured)

While playing the rejected wife on the show, Keeley insisted that her union was the opposite of that of politician John and Barbara.

She told the Mirror: ‘We’ve worked together before, but haven’t for several years. And so when this came up, it actually seemed like the perfect project on so many levels, especially since the Stonehouses are so different from Matthew and I and our relationship.

“So it’s nice to see us, I think, and interesting for people who might know we got married to see us as the ‘other’ couple.”

She told Matthew, “It was really great. It was very cheerful, wasn’t it?’

He replied, “Yes, it was very difficult working with Keeley.

“She’s… it was hard. It was difficult. No, that’s a stupid answer. It was a pleasure working with Keeley. It was fun, wasn’t it?’

Still, teaming up is rare for the couple, who revealed how they manage to keep their wedding spark alive when they’re torn apart on shoots.

Matthew told The Evening Standard in 2021: “Keeley and I have a three week rule – neither of us want to be apart any longer. So after being alone for three weeks, I started to go a little crazy.

‘You start to think. “What am I doing?” I would walk around Brooklyn and think, “where do I live?” It was strange and difficult.’

For the couple in love, they will do whatever it takes to bridge the distance, with Keeley telling The Telegraph in 2010: ‘I love being married to Matthew, and I know Matthew loves being married too.

‘It connects everything and it is a statement to each other and to the world. Getting married and being a mother are absolutely crucial to my happiness and my life.”

Staying Close: Working together is rare for the couple, who revealed how they manage to keep their marriage spark alive when they get ripped apart during shoots (pictured in 2005)

Adorable: For the lovesick couple, they’ll do whatever it takes to bridge the distance, with Keeley saying in 2010, “I love being married to Matthew, and I know Matthew loves getting married too” (pictured May 2023)